Oregon Historical County Records Guide

Yamhill County Records Inventory

Insane Commitment Records

1852-[ongoing]

Series documents the examination, commitment, and release of
mentally ill persons to and from the state's mental institutions.
Series contains statements of complaint and commitment recorded by
the county clerk or recorder and includes petitions to have an
individual committed; physicians certification that an individual
is insane; delivery warrants authorizing a county official
(usually the sheriff) to take the individual to the state
hospital; patient discharges; paroles or transfers; indexes; and
correspondence. Information includes patient and family names,
date committed, reason, physical description, and a brief family
history. This series may also be known as the Insane Record,
Mental Illness Record, and Mentally Ill and Feeble Minded Record.
By 1968, in most counties, the commitment of the mentally ill or
deficient had become the responsibility of the circuit court. Access to these records may be restricted for 75 years by
Oregon Revised Statute 192.496.

Mental Commitment Case Files from 1979 to the present are imaged on a LaserFiche document management system maintained by the trial court office.